Small Traditions? Anyone had issues?
 

My brother and I purchased a handful of things in a recent Small Traditions auctions. I was stunned by how they shipped the cards—when we got them, a nice lot of 53 Topps, the cards were partially out of the sleeves, a ruined Jackie Jansen among a dozen or so cards just flopping around. The case for a Lee Smith rookie was cracked. It was a mess.

So we reached out. Once. Twice. Three times. Called. Nothing. Crickets.

Anyone else had this experience with them? Shipping problems happen, but the lack of any response is disappointing.

https://imgur.com/a/whfEiNv

https://imgur.com/a/whfEiNv

I am looking at their most recent auction. I don't see any Lee Smith rookies that are graded in their auction. I also don't see any raw 1953 Topps. Do you have a link of what you won?

I am not 100% positive, but I feel like Small Traditions was outed by BODA as being a potential (and if so significant) card doctor. So you may have more than one type of condition issue.

The auction is actually not the last one, but the one previous to the last one. Materials took forever to get to us.

I posted this yesterday and shockingly today we finally got a response. They say every auction house in the world packs their cards in binder sleeves and sending across the Canadian/US border must have somehow caused all the cards to fall out of the sleeves.

Right.

Anyway, they did offer to fix the situation, even if it took 6 weeks of emails to get it done. So that's something.

I am 100% certain
 

They were!

Fortunately I had only purchased a half dozen cards from them - after measuring and magnifying them I found 1 that was clearly trimmed (and graded by PSA) - a 1964 PSA 9 Kahns Clemente. I contacted them - they took it back and promptly refunded me.

Recommend that anyone considering buying from small traditions read the entire thread on blowout about small traditions before purchasing anything. I have no other information but there is a lot on the blowout thread.

Yeah that Canada /USA border has this mystic property, similar to the Bermuda Triangle, where cards fall out of their holders flying in the Fed Ex plane.

I've done plenty of US/Canada business, both sending and receiving. I don't believe there's a mystery vortex that bumps cards out of the sleeves and wrecks some of the best cards. Sloppiness.

Interestingly, after nearly two months of no replies, I put up a note on here yesterday and suddenly we received a reply and offer of some money back to make it right. I also posted at them on Twitter, and given my background, I actually have a relatively sizeable following, so that surely helped.

Anyway, I'd forgotten the BO Cards note. Should pay more careful attention.